TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — With the Title 42 order no longer in place, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he is deploying state law enforcement to the U.S.-Mexico border in anticipation of an expected deluge of migrants, despite the Biden administration saying there was no major influx.
According to a press release, the governor is sending 800 members of the Florida National Guard to the border along with 101 Florida Highway Patrol troopers and a number of aircraft, boats and emergency management personnel.
“The impacts of Biden’s Border Crisis are felt by communities across the nation, and the federal government’s abdication of duty undermines the sovereignty of our country and the rule of law,” DeSantis said in the news release. “At my direction, state agencies including law enforcement and the Florida National Guard are being deployed to Texas, with assets including personnel, boats and planes. While Biden ignores the crisis he created, Florida stands ready to help Texas respond to this crisis.”
Put in place by the Trump administration at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Title 42 allowed U.S. border officials to quickly expel migrants and asylum-seekers without processing for public health reasons.
The Biden administration lifted the order on May 11, and announced plans to send 1,500 active-duty troops to the border.
“We continue to encounter high levels of noncitizens at the border. But we did not see a substantial increase overnight or an influx at midnight,” Blas Nuñez-Neto, an assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.